RMON

SER M

The long-fuffering of God.

ECCLES. viii. 11.

CL.

Because fentence against an evil work is not executed Speedily, therefore the heart of the fons of men is fully fet in them to do evil.

The first fermon on this text.

Othing is more evident, than that the world lies in wickednefs, and that iniquity every where abounds; and yet nothing is more certain, than that God will not acquit the guilty, and let fin go unpunished. All men, excepting thofe who have offered notorious violence to the light of their own minds, and have put the candle of the Lord, which is in them, under a bufhel, do believe that there is a God in the world, to whofe holy nature and will fin is perfectly contrary, who loves righteoufnefs, and hates iniquity; that his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he feeth all his goings; that there is no darkness, nor fhadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. All men, except thofe whole confciences are feared, as it were, with an hot iron, are convinced of the difference of good and evil, and that it is not all one whether men ferve God, or serve him not, do well, or live wickedly. Every man, from his inward fenfe and experience, is fatisfied of his own liberty, and that God lays upon men no neceffity of finning, but that whenever we do amifs, it is our own act, and we chufe to do fo; and fo far is he from giving the leaft countenance to fin, that he hath given all imaginable difcouragement to it, by the moft levere and terrible threatenings, fuch as one would think fufficient to deter men for ever from it, and to drive it out of the world; and to make his threatenings the more awful and effectual, his providence hath not been wanting

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to give remarkable inftances of his juftice and severity upon notorious offenders, even in this life: and yet, for all this, men do, and will fin; nay, they are zealoufly fet and bent upon it.

Now, here is the wonder; what it is that gives finners fuch heart, and makes them fo refolute and undaunted in fo dangerous a courfe. Solomon gives us this account of it; because the punishments and judgments of God follow the fins of men fo flowly, and are long before they overtake the finner; Because fentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the fons of men are fully fet in them to do evil.

The scope of the wife man's difcourfe is this; that, by reafon of God's forbearance and long-fuffering towards finners in this life, it is not fo eafy to difcern the difference between them and other men; this life is the day of God's patience, but the next will be a day of retribution and recompenfe. Now, because God doth defer and moderate the punishment of finners in this world, and referve the weight of his judgments to the next; becaufe, through the long-fuffering of God, many great finners live and die without any remarkable teftimony of God's wrath and difpleasure against them; therefore the hearts of the children of men are fully fet in them to do evil.

If we render the text word for word from the original, it runs thus; Because nothing is done as a recompenfe to an evil work, therefore the hearts of the fons of men are full in them to do evil; that is, because men are not op. pofed and contradicted in their evil ways, because divine juftice doth not presently check and controul finners, because fentence is not immediately paft upon them, and judgment executed, therefore the heart of the fons of men is full in them to do evil; that is, therefore men grow bold and prefumptuous in fin: for the Hebrew word which we render, is fully fet in them, we find, Efther vii. 5. where Ahafuerus fays, concerning Haman, Who is he? and where is he that durft prejume in his heart to do fo? Whofe heart was full to do fo? Fervit in iis cor filiorum hominum; fo fome render it, "The hearts of men boil with wickedness, are fo

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full of it, that it works over. Men are refolute in an evil course, their hearts are strengthened and hardened in them to do evil, fo others tranflate the words. The tranflation of the LXX is very emphatical, anpopophon napdia, the heart of the fons of men is fully perfuaded and affured to do evil. All thefe tranflations agree in the main fcope and fenfe, viz. that finners are very apt to prefume upon the long-fuffering of God, and to abufe it, to the hardening and encouraging of themselves in their evil ways. In the handling of this, I fhall,

1. Briefly fhew that it is so.

2. Whence this comes to pass, and upon what pretences and colours of reason, men encourage themselves in fin, from the patience of God.

3. I fhall endeavour to answer an objection about

this matter.

I. That men are very apt to abuse the long-fuffering of God, to the encouraging and hardening of themselves in an evil courfe, the experience of the world, in all ages, does give abundant teftimony. Thus it was with the old world, when the long-fuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while he was preparing an ark, for the Space of an hundred and twenty years, 1 Pet. iii. 20. For the wickedness of man, which was great upon the earth, a general deluge was threatened; but God was patient, and delayed his judgment a great while: hereupon they grew fecure in their impenitency, and went on in their courfe, as if they had no apprehension of danger, no fear of the judgment threatened. So our Saviour tells us, Matth. xxiv. 38. 39. As in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away. And fo it was with Sodom, Luke xvii. 28. And like alfo as it was in the days of Lot, they eat, they drank, they bought, they fold, they planted, they built. And fo, our Saviour tells us, it will be in the end of the world; Even thus fhall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. So likewife the Apostle St. Paul, Rom. ii. 4. 5. Defpifeft thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hard

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nefs and impenitent beart, treasureft up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. The goodness and long-fuffering of God, which ought, in all reafon, to lead men to repentance, is to many an occafion of greater hardness. and impenitency. So alfo St. Peter foretels, 2 Pet. iii. 3. That in the laft days there fhould come fcoffers, who fhould walk after their own hearts lufts, faying, where is the promife of his coming? And we fee, in daily experience, that the greateft part of finners grow more ob-. ftinate and confirmed in their wicked ways, upon account of God's patience, and because he delays the punishment due to them for their fins. Let us confider, in the

II. Place, Whence this comes to pafs, and upon what pretence and colour of reafon men encourage themfelves in fin, from the long-fuffering of God. And there is no doubt but this proceeds from our ignorance and inconfiderateness,. and from an evil heart of unbelief, from the temptation and fuggeftion of the devil, one of whofe great arts it is, to make men question the threatenings of God, and to 'infinuate, as he did to our firft parents, either that he hath not denounced fuch threatenings, or that he will not execute them fo feverely. All these caufes do concur to the producing this monftrous effect: but that which I defign to enquire into, is from what pretence of reafon, grounded upon the longfuffering of God, finners argue themselves into this confidence and prefumption. For when the wife man faith, that because fentence against an evil work is not executed Speedily, therefore the heart of the fons of men is fully fet in them to do evil; he does not intend to infinuate, that God's long-fuffering fills the hearts of men with wicked defigns and refolutions, and does, by a proper and direct efficacy, harden finners in their courfe; but, that wicked men, upon fome account or other, do take occafion, from the long-fuffering of God, to harden themselves in fin; they draw falfe conclufions from it to impofe upon themselves, as if it were really a ground of encouragement; they think they fee fomething in the forbearance of God, and his delay of punishment, which makes

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them hope for impunity in an evil course, notwithstanding the threatenings of God.

And therefore I shall endeavour to fhew, what those falfe conclufions are, which wicked men draw from the delay of punishment, and to difcover the fophiftry and fallacy of them; and I shall rank them under two heads; those which are more grofs and atheistical; and thofe which are not fo grofs, but yet more common and frequent.

Firft, Thofe conclufions which are more grofs and atheistical, which bad men draw, to the hardening and encouraging of themselves in fin, from the delay of punifhment, (which we, who believe a God, call the patience or long-fuffering of God) are thefe three; either that there is no God; or if there be, that there is no providence; or that there is no difference between good and evil.

I fhall fpeak more briefly of thefe, because I hope there are but few in the world of fuch irregular and befotted understandings, as to make fuch inferences as thefe, from the delay of punishment.

1. From hence fome would fain conclude, that there is no God. That fome are fo abfurd as to reafon in this

manner, the fcripture tells us, Pfal. xiv. 1. The fool bath faid in his heart, there is no God: they are corrupt, and have done abominable works. Now, the argument that these men frame to themselves, is this; God doth not take a fpeedy courfe with finners, and revenge himfelf immediately upon the workers of iniquity, therefore there is no God; for, if there were, he would fhew himself, and not bear the affronts of finners, when it is fo eafy for him to vindicate himself by a fwift and fpeedy vengeance. Thus the Poet represents the Atheist arguing; Nullos effe deos, inane cœlum, affirmat Selius, probatque, quod fe factum, dum negat hoc, videt beatum. "Selius affirms, There are no Gods, and that heaven "is an empty place, and proves it, because, whilst he "denies God, he fees himself in a very happy and profperous condition."

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And here it is worthy our notice, at what a contradictious rate thefe men reafon; firft, they would have no God, left he would be just, and punish them I

VOL. VII.

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